Service: Veteran Stories of Hunger and War

It’s called “the deadliest conflict in human history” for a reason. World War II engulfed the lives of soldiers and civilians in a way those in the United States have not experienced in a near capacity since. In the final episode of our season exploring the experience of service during World War II, authors Myke Cole and Anastacia Marx de Salcedo join to help us make sense of it all: What changed the most when it comes to combat and cuisine? What part did our veterans play in moving the world forward? And where can we most find ourselves in this history? This episode includes clips from all of the veterans who have shared their stories on Service this season, and direct interviews with Cole and Marx de Salcedo. You can find more about them and links to their work and individual episodes at www.ServicePodcast.org. There, you can also leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

World War II transformed women’s service both in the U.S. Armed Forces and in their stateside communities -- millions would serve at home and abroad as nurses, clerics, drivers, front-line food peddlers, and even pilots. The work wasn’t easy. To survive the shifting job market, they had to work twice as hard for half the pay. They had to suffer how society could look up or down on them at any given moment. They had to adapt, grow, and endure. Army Nurse Victoria Louise Kambic found when tempting wounded soldiers and fussing children, a bag of sweets in her pocket helped, too. Victoria became Sister Melanie Kambic, and she shares her World War II war and food story with us from the Sisters of Divine Providence convent in Allison Park, Pennsylvania. Learn more about Sister Melanie and women’s contributions to World War II at her page at ServicePodcast.org. There, you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

100-year-old World War II Marine veteran Norman Rubin remembers the Great Depression. He remembers eating as much as could be put on a plate in front of him as a hungry kid. He remembers his father leaving at 10 years old and his brothers working to help his mother. He remembers reading about how the Marines traveled all over the world, and his mother helping him lie about his age so that he could enlist at 17. He remembers how the Marines clothed and fed him and gave him a job and so that’s why he’d signed up--not because anyone suspected that a World War lay ahead. Four years later, and he couldn’t get out. Follow along in this hearty story of Service as Norm ate well on the USS Pennsylvania, was the orderly for President Roosevelt, defended British soldiers on Iceland, and stormed islands in the Pacific. You can hear more about Norm’s lifelong love story in our episode - All’s Fair in War and Lasting Love - and read more at www.ServicePodcast.org, where you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every veteran we’ve sat with this season has gushed about the “love of their life” -- the woman who worked hard at the hospital or factory or office or homestead and dutifully penned letters while they were away in the Service. They’ve wowed us with not only their love’s origin story, but the lifetime commitment they kept. And we’ve sat with them as they’ve missed and mourned that loved one -- coincidentally, the majority of our veterans this season are widowers. And so in this episode, Frank Devita, John Bistrica, Ray Stanley Boutwell, Norman Rubin, and Pat D’Ambrosio return to tell a little about the women who made their life so complete. We share their stories simply, in a tribute to those who so supported them during the war, and long after. Find photos of these couples - as well as those not shared in this episode - at www.ServicePodcast.org, where you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wait, but how did the food get made in World War II? In this episode of Service, Navy veteran Ray Boutwell shares how he cooked at a training camp in New Jersey toward the latter part of the war: what equipment they had in the kitchen, what dishes they made regularly, and the difference between ingredients the government supplied and those officers of means could get the cooks to purchase on their own. With government experiments coming into the kitchen, we learn a little about innovation of military cuisine, too! Ray worked in food service throughout his life, and opened a bakery at ninety-three. This episode is extra fun for cooks and bakers, who might hear themselves in this veteran’s story. Find photos from this episode of Service and lots of nerdy details behind everything shared in this episode at Robert’s page at www.ServicePodcast.org, where you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The majority of the veterans we’ve heard from this season recall growing up in Great Depression poverty. Such is not the case with Robert Hanson, a Navy Lieutenant whose father found himself in an intriguing position of economic strength that helped Robert settle into Ivy League academia by the start of World War 2. But that doesn’t mean he was guaranteed safety or good eats when assigned to run PT 182 off of Morotai island - one of the motorized torpedo boats that would take on Japanese barges in some of the most dangerous fighting in the Pacific. Did income and education make a difference in the end? Listen along as Robert guides us through Navy combat and island cuisine in this story of service and sacrifice. Find photos from this episode of Service and lots of nerdy details behind everything shared in this episode at Robert’s page at www.ServicePodcast.org, where you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Think success in farming has nothing to do with sacrifice on the front line? At the start of World War II, Japanese American farmers controlled 40% of California farm production, dominating crops like tomatoes, celery, and snap beans made newly available nationwide with the success of refrigerated railway cars. 45% of Japanese Americans held agricultural jobs on the west coast as a result. In this episode, we follow Japanese American veteran Lawson Ichiro Sakai’s Service story, from his family farm in Montebello, California through the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the internment of Japanese immigrants, and the segregated 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s sacrifice as they proved their patriotism in the European theatre. Find photos from this episode of Service, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org, where you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you to the Japanese American Veterans Association for connecting us with Lawson for this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do some of our veterans not speak about their service experience, and how can civilians help? On the second half of this two-part episode, we explore the some racial healing 70-years post war, and how food brings veterans out of their shells. We first explore how one community event brought two Navy veterans from different worlds together. Then, Sarah Sicard of Military Times and Cindy Stephens of the Freedom Pantry for Veterans help us understand how they use conversation to get veterans out of their shell and into the light. Find photos from this episode of Service, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org, where you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. And we’re always sharing extra audio and nerdy food history on social media - we’re @servicepodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you to Military Times, the Freedom Pantry for Veterans, and the Veteran’s Network Committee for connecting with us for this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of the World War II combat veterans we’re hearing from this season didn’t talk about their service experiences for most of their lives. On the first of this two-part episode, we explore the history behind why they might not have opened up, how things have changed with time, and what’s helped them start talking. Then we head to Livingston County, New York, where a community-made war memorial recently brought veterans and their families together in a stunning show of outreach and support. Find photos from this episode of Service, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your Service stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. Thank you to those involved in the Livingston County Veterans’ Monument for joining us on this episode. You can see more on Faceboook, Twitter, and Instagram. And to support other organizations we’ve worked with thus far this season, visit The Greatest Generations Foundation, Honor Flight Columbus, and Tuskegee Airmen Inc Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6 million men left farm life between 1940 and 1945. Some, like Air Corp Staff Sergeant Harold Bud Long, left to join the Service. Setting out and maintaining 47 air strips across Europe, Bud took part in legendary campaigns like Omaha Beach on D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and Patton’s drive through Central Europe into the Rhineland. Spending significant time with French civilians and tearing down the gates of a German concentration camp, he shares how soldiers and civilians found ways to feed each other, and which foods from home they never found abroad. Find photos from this episode, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. Thank you to Jason Skinner and those involved in the Livingston County Veterans’ Monument for connecting us with Bud for this episode. They’ve recently unveiled their beautiful community monument and we suggest you check it out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We’ll be sharing more of their story in our next episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Young William Walker was determined to succeed. Despite segregation in the service during World War II, William rose to Chief Petty Officer First Class in the Navy – an uncommon position of authority for African Americans particularly in that branch. First managing PT rescue teams stateside and then overseeing his ship’s food supply holds in the South West Pacific, William’s history helps us understand a layer of the complicated web of racism and opportunity that African American service members met when they joined the World War. Find photos from this episode, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. Thank you to Honor Flight Columbus for connecting us with the Walker family for this episode. Learn more about sponsoring a senior veterans’ visit to see war memorials in Washington D.C. at www.HonorFlightColumbus.org, and see more on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lt. Colonel George Hardy wanted to be an engineer. Not a cook. But at the start of World War 2, African Americans were only given mess attendant positions in the Navy – the branch he wanted to join. And so, George joined the U.S. Army Air Corps’ prestigious Tuskegee Airmen fighter group instead. Facing segregation at home and abroad, his food stories are weighted with uncomfortable silences and tough self-love. Follow as George travels from Philly to the southern states, over to Italy and back home again, fighting a Double Victory campaign that would change the course of American history forever. Find archival newspaper articles, photos of George, an episode transcript, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on our Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. Thank you to Joe Faust of Tuskegee Airmen Inc. for connecting us with George for this episode. We encourage you to learn more at www.TuskegeeAirmen.org, and on Facebook and Instagram. And thank you to Stephen Satterfield of iHeartRadio’s Point of Origin podcast for lending his voice to this episode - subscribe to Point of Origin on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app and Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Army Private 1st Class John Bistrica was in the 1st Infantry Division – nicknamed “Big Red One” – on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. His story balances watchful anticipation and fierce action as he moves from Youngstown, Ohio to stateside base camps, then to the D-Day beaches and into Normandy, finding both feast and famine along the way. See photos from this episode, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on SERVICE. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh out of high school in Brooklyn, New York, Frank Devita joined the Coast Guard in the summer of 1943. He then met adulthood in the bloody waters off of the Normandy beaches on D-Day and while criss-crossing oceans between additional battles. A finicky eater from an Italian foodie family, Frank found some sneaky ways for him and others to eat in his 33 months in Service. A gentle warning: Frank shares engrossing details about D-Day and death in this episode. We hear these memories as we step back in time together. Find photos from this episode, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. Thank you to the Greatest Generations Foundation for connecting us with Frank for this episode. Explore how you can support a veteran’s visit to memorials and hallowed grounds at www.tggf.org, and see more on Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this supporting episode of SERVICE, we take a quick dive into P-40 planes, foxholes, trenches, and hedgerows. Some major engineering advancements came about during World War II, helping our veterans in their missions around the globe. But they met agricultural challenges overseas, despite. Listen for a quick primer on military terms you’ll hear our veterans reference this season. Find photos from this episode, an episode transcription, and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you hear on Service. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this first episode of SERVICE, World War II veteran Pasquale D’Ambrosio of the Army’s 96th Division shares how the Great Depression and natural disasters affected his Keene, New Hampshire community even before the United States joined the war in 1941. Then, why he loved military food, how the drop of the atomic bombs might just have spared his life, and what he saw of hunger in the South West Pacific theatre. Find photos from this episode and more at www.ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you’ll hear on Service. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SERVICE shares first-hand accounts of veteran war stories, and so episodes contain reenactments of warfare and relay scenarios of death. This message is for our veterans, active service members, and others who might be particularly affected by the sounds and stories on SERVICE, so to be best prepared before listening. Thank you. Find more at www.ServicePodcast.org, where you can share your stories and message our team with your thoughts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Find photos from this episode and more at ServicePodcast.org and on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also share your stories and leave messages for all of the veterans you’ll hear on Service. Follow on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.